This is my review (as I see them) of this school. I worked there in 2011-2012 for one school year.
Type of Institution: Foundation School - The school does boast that they are associated with the university but I think that they just rent space and staff from them. The university employs most of the office staff. The school's main purpose is to get their student's to a Canadian College (same as a two year community college in the U.S.). As part of this, the students must pass their IELTS exam with a minimum of 5.5. In one of my classes, 7 out of 11 students were able to accomplish this. I also had 3 that scored 6.0 or higher.
Pay: 5,000 RMB to start and they did pay on time (10th of every month). They do pay you in cash, though. It was not clear when I was there whether you would get a salary bump if you signed on for a new year. I had requested this information from the owner as well as a copy of the contract for the next year. He never replied to my inquiries. I know of one teacher that got 800 RMB more for resigning, though.
Accommodations: Furnished apartment with the basic linen supplies. You are required to pay for all utilities. This is about 600 RMB every 3 months. You are also required to pay for your Internet Connection. This ran about 800 RMB for one year. The utility expenses will come later and be deducted from your pay. The Internet fee however must be paid when you arrive. My first apartment had cockroaches and I requested a new apartment. I was denied this until I complained to the owner of the school and got moved to a new apartment. My second apartment was much better with two bedrooms and a larger living area. Unfortunately, it was located on the seventh floor. These apartments are not on campus. So, it can take you anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to get to your class.
Class Size: Generally my classes were small. I taught 11 students in one class and 16 in the other class. In the contract that I signed, there is a clause that a teacher will have no more than twenty students in a classroom.
Class Schedule: I taught 19 hours a week. This was the most hours than the other teachers that were employed at this school. A total of four teachers were employed for this program. Plus, the second semester a new teacher was hired to teach some courses for college credit. The students in my program receive a certificate of completion from EIE. I taught the following subjects:
• Interchange - Passages 4 and 5
• Academic Reading
• World Cultures
• World History
I worked Monday through Friday with a 2 hour supervision on Thursday Night. Please note that the owner does not count the supervision duties as your teaching hours. Each teaching period or hour is 50 minutes long. Here is a copy of my schedule:
• Monday: 10:00 am - 11:50 am
02:00 pm - 03:50 pm
• Tuesday: 08:00 am - 11:50 am
• Wednesday: 10:00 am - 11:50 am
02:00 pm - 02:50 pm
04:00 pm - 04:50 pm
• Thursday: 08:00 am - 09:50 am
11:00 am - 11:50 am
01:30 pm - 02:00 pm (Staff Meeting)
07:00 pm - 09:00 pm (Supervision)
• Friday: 10:00 am - 11:50 am
03:00 pm - 04:50 pm
Primarily, our Director of Teacher Affairs (DTA) decided on this schedule. The staff did have some input but he insisted on teaching certain classes. After Spring Festival, the staff met and decided to change the schedule so that it would not be split up as you see here. The owner refused to allow us to change it. His reason did not make sense to anyone. He wanted the students to be exposed to as many FT's as possible. With four teachers this would have brought our students "exposure" down from 3 to 2.
Tuition: Our students typically pay 50,000 RMB for a year at this school. In addition to this, they also pay 1,500 for books. They are required to purchase their books from EIE. I found out that most of these books are copied at a much cheaper price. One book (World Culture) was priced at 3 RMB.
Class Makeup: The students do take a placement exam. Based on the results if this, the student is placed in one of two classes. Even with this separation, you will find the level to be across the board as far as their English ability. Most of the students were in their senior year of high school. We also had several students that were attending the university.
Teaching Materials: The books are not that good. There were only teaching manuals for the Interchange / Passages and the Academic Reading courses. One teacher had to teach a course with no book. So, you will need to be creative to make things interesting. I was teaching World History out of thin books published by National Geographic.
Release Letter: I had requested my release letter early because my new school had wanted it to get a head start on transferring my visa. This was in March and my contract would expire in June. I was assured by my FAO that this was no problem. Later, I get a call from the owner wanting to know why I was leaving. Then, several days later, we get this new "policy" for transferring teachers. Part of this indicated that they would mail my release letter to my new school 5 days after I had departed. They did comply with their "policy" though, and mailed my documents on the same day that I had departed. It would have been easier to just hand me the documents directly. My best guess was that this was to punish me for leaving.
Integrity of School: This school hires teachers on visitors' visas quite frequently. We had one teacher that worked for two years with such an arrangement because she could not qualify for an Expert Certificate. Plus, she was paid less than the normal salary. They hired another teacher while I was there under similar circumstances. They have a summer program where most of the teachers employed are here under similar circumstances. I was actually considering signing for a second year. My plans were to work for them for the summer program. Then, move on to one of their other campuses further south. I was told that the only way to do this was to sign with them for another year in Dalian. If an opening occurred after Spring Festival, I could move at that time. This along with their failure to provide me with the information that I had requested prompted me to leave EIE.
Extra Duties: Besides the teaching and supervisory duties, I found myself doing extra work that was not specified in my contract. First, there are monthly days where an activity is planned. It is typically an all day event set aside for fun and games. All of the teachers and staff are required to attend. Here is what we planned while I was there:
September - Fun Day (Outdoor Games)
October - Halloween Party
November - Talent Show
December - Christmas Party
March - Spelling Bee
Also, several outings are planned usually as the weather gets warmer. These too are all day events. Here is the list of outings:
April - IKEA Store
May - Botanical Park
My issue with these days is that they would always happen on my "light" day when I only taught 3 classes. This would typically be on a Thursday. Also, our staff meetings would fall on this day plus I had supervision. So, my "light" day would invariably turn into one of my busiest. Finally, I was asked to write recommendation letters for 7 of my students for the embassy and college.
We were also asked to do a "Fun Day" activity at a High School about 50 Km from Dalian. This occurred on a Saturday in October. The school uses these types of events to recruit new students for their program. The owner first offered us a box of apples to do this. All of the teachers refused this outright. Then, he offered to pay us 100 RMB plus a box of apples. This was refused as well. Finally, I got him to offer us 200 RMB plus a western dinner, which runs around 200 RMB per person.
Final Thoughts: The classes are small and the students are pretty good. This was my bright spot of working for this company. However, teachers should be wary of this company. The owner is very cheap and unreliable. The FAO has no real power and must check back on any decisions. Considering the low pay and additional responsibilities, this job is just not worth the hassles. There are much better places out there. My overall grade for this place is a C-.